Tighter measures are being imposed, but they vary across the continent
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Global preparation: how different countries planned for the second wave of Covid-19
Lockdowns brought temporary relief to some but, everywhere, test and trace is key
The first wave of coronavirus swept through a world unprepared. Authorities struggled to test for the disease, and didn’t know how to slow the spread of Covid-19.
Lockdowns brought the virus under temporary control in some places, including the UK, buying a window for the revival of education and the economy, and time to prepare for future waves that epidemiologists said were almost inevitable.
Continue reading...Ursula von der Leyen says Poland’s ‘LGBT-free zones’ have no place in EU
In her first ‘state of union’ speech, European commission president delivers criticism of Polish ruling party
The head of the European commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has said Poland’s “LGBT free zones” are “humanity-free zones” that have no place in the European Union in her strongest criticism yet of Poland’s ruling Law and Justice party.
In a wide-ranging 77-minute speech spanning from coronavirus to the climate emergency, Von der Leyen pledged to build “a union of equality” and criticised European member states that watered down EU foreign policy messages on human rights.
Continue reading...Global report: schools across Europe reopen as Covid cases grow
Parents and teachers fear face masks and other measures not enough to prevent second wave
Tens of millions of pupils, most wearing face masks, have headed back to class in France, Belgium, Poland and Russia, as schools across Europe cautiously reopened amid spiralling numbers of new coronavirus cases in several countries.
Parents and teachers around the continent have expressed fears that strict physical distancing and hygiene measures such as hand cleansing stations will not be able to prevent a second Covid-19 wave, maybe coinciding with the autumn flu season.
Continue reading...Hungary marks treaty centenary as Orbán harnesses ‘Trianon trauma’
PM uses settlement, which took away three-fifths of territory, for nationalist agenda
Church bells rang out across Budapest, public transport came to a halt and people observed a moment of silence as Hungary commemorated the centenary of the treaty of Trianon on Thursday.
Signed in the aftermath of the first world war, the treaty still forms a major part of Hungary’s national identity and memories of the harsh settlement have helped fuel the nationalist agenda of the current prime minister, Viktor Orbán.
Continue reading...Global report: Germany to relax travel curbs as Spain mourns Covid-19 victims
France defends tracking app amid privacy concerns and Hungary aims to lift state of emergency
Denmark has made it easier for cross-border couples separated from their partners by lockdown to meet again, while Germany is expected to allow travel to 31 European countries from mid-June, as EU countries continued to lift coronavirus restrictions.
People living in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Germany can now visit partners in Denmark by signing a simple declaration rather than having to provide photos, phone records and other proof of a relationship, the Danish justice minister, Nick Hækkerup, said.
Continue reading...Relatives of Armenian axed to death by Azeri officer call for justice
ECHR is examining actions of Hungary and Azerbaijan over release of killer Ramil Safarov
Relatives of a murdered Armenian army officer killed with an axe by an Azerbaijani counterpart on a Nato training programme in Budapest are hoping the European court of human rights will hand down rulings against Hungary and Azerbaijan on Tuesday.
Gurgen Margaryan was murdered in February 2004 by Ramil Safarov, while both men were attending a three-month Nato English-language training course in the Hungarian capital.
Continue reading...Hungary votes to end legal recognition of trans people
Activists say new law will increase discrimination, especially as Hungarians must often display their ID cards
Hungary’s parliament has voted to end legal recognition for trans people, passing a bill that rights activists say pushes the country “back towards the dark ages”.
The new law defines gender as based on chromosomes at birth, meaning previous provisions whereby trans people could alter their gender and name on official documents will no longer be available.
Continue reading...Hungary’s coronavirus laws prompt new showdown with Brussels
MEPs to hold debate after Viktor Orbán given right to rule by decree indefinitely
The European parliament will discuss Hungary’s controversial coronavirus laws on Thursday, the latest showdown between Brussels and Budapest over rule of law under Hungary’s nationalist prime minister, Viktor Orbán.
In late March Hungary’s parliament gave Orbán the right to rule by decree indefinitely as part of a package of measures aimed at fighting coronavirus.
Continue reading...Hungary prepares to end legal recognition of trans people
Trans people fear more discrimination as Orbán pushes through law defining gender based on ‘sex at birth’
Hungary’s rightwing government looks likely to push through legislation that will end the legal recognition of trans people by defining gender as “biological sex based on primary sex characteristics and chromosomes” and thus making it impossible for people to legally change their gender.
Trans people and rights activists say the law, which has been introduced into parliament as attention is focused on the coronavirus pandemic, will increase discrimination and intolerance towards trans people. Many will try to leave the country, while those who do not have that chance will face daily humiliations.
Continue reading...Is comparing Covid-19 death rates across Europe helpful?
Belgium appears hardest hit on paper, but not all countries count non-hospital fatalities
Every day, the statistics bring more grim headlines: “Italian death toll passes 20,000”, “Record UK daily death toll”, “Europe’s fatalities pass 100,000”. Across the world, people await national updates on the coronavirus – and compare their country with others.
The comparison game has been especially marked in Belgium, which on paper has the unhappy title of highest number of Covid-19 deaths per capita in Europe. Belgium – population 11.5 million – has counted at least 6,675 deaths since the start of the outbreak, more than Germany, which is nearly eight times more populous.
Continue reading...Roma suffer under EU’s ‘environmental racism’, report concludes
Thousands live in squalor due to policies of exclusion and deprivation, says study
Europe’s Roma communities are often living on polluted wastelands and lacking running water or sanitation in their homes as a result of “environmental racism”, a report has concluded.
The European Environmental Bureau (EEB), a pan-European network of green NGOs, found Roma communities were often excluded from basic services, such as piped drinking water, sanitation and rubbish collection, while frequently living at or near some of the dirtiest sites in Europe, such as landfills or contaminated industrial land.
Continue reading...Hungarian journalists fear coronavirus law may be used to jail them
Reporters say measures are being used to deny them access to information on pandemic
Hungarian journalists say a new law supposedly aimed at fighting the coronavirus will make objective reporting of the pandemic harder and leave them open to facing court cases or even jail time for their reporting.
The measures, in place since Monday, have been roundly criticised for the sweeping powers they hand to the nationalist prime minister, Viktor Orbán, to rule by decree. Another part of the bill provides penalties of up to five years in prison for those spreading misinformation during the pandemic.
Continue reading...EU court rules three member states broke law over refugee quotas
Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland failed to comply with 2015 programme, ECJ says
Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic broke European law when they failed to give refuge to asylum seekers arriving in southern Europe, often having fled war in Syria and Iraq, the EU’s top court has ruled.
The three central European countries now face possible fines for refusing to take a share of refugees, after EU leaders forced through mandatory quotas to relocate up to 160,000 asylum seekers at the height of the 2015 migration crisis.
Continue reading...Viktor Orbán ditches mayor plan amid claims of coronavirus power grab
Hungary’s prime minister criticised for inefficient and unworkable measures
Hungary’s nationalist government announced measures to strip the country’s mayors of political autonomy, before appearing to ditch them hours later, the latest episode in a political drama in which the prime minister, Viktor Orbán, has been accused of using the coronavirus to mount a power grab.
On Monday, Hungary’s parliament passed a law that gives Orbán the right to rule by decree for an indefinite period and also criminalises intentionally spreading false information about coronavirus with up to five years in prison. The move was roundly criticised by Orbán’s domestic and international critics.
Continue reading...Coronavirus is now contaminating Europe’s democracy | Jarosław Kuis and Karolina Wigura
Viktor Orbán is using the pandemic to seize more power. This backsliding could permanently change the face of the EU
To say that Europe is united by its divisions is an exaggeration – but only a small one. Closing national borders during the pandemic may have been a rational health response, but the longer term political consequences become more troubling when we look at the order in which European governments began to reimpose frontiers.
Italy made the decision on 10 March, when the number of confirmed cases had already exceeded 10,000. Over the next five days, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Hungary closed their borders one after the other, even though by that time in any of them the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases had not reach a hundred.
Continue reading...Teargas, beatings and bleach: the most extreme Covid-19 lockdown controls around the world
Violence and humiliation used to police coronavirus curfews around globe, often affecting the poorest and more vulnerable
As coronavirus lockdowns have been expanded globally, billions of people have found that they are now faced with unprecedented restrictions. Police across the world have been given licence to control behaviour in a way that would normally be extreme even for an authoritarian state.
Related: ‘We can’t go back to normal’: how will coronavirus change the world?
Continue reading...Authoritarian leaders may use Covid-19 crisis to tighten their grip
Hungary’s PM insists extreme measures are only to fight the pandemic, others are not so sure
The coronavirus has already overwhelmed medical services, grounded flights and halted economic growth, but one of its most enduring effects could be to usher in a political age in which soft authoritarians have turned harder, and the surveillance state becomes a way of life even in some democracies.
In Hungary, after a set of measures introduced on Monday, it is now a criminal offence to spread misinformation about coronavirus, and the prime minister, Viktor Orbán, can rule by decree for an indefinite period. In neighbouring Serbia, soldiers patrol the streets as part of the coronavirus response plan. In Moscow, authorities are reportedly mulling measures that would require everyone who wants to go outside to submit the reasons online, and then be tracked via their smartphones.
Continue reading...Hungary’s emergency law ‘incompatible with being in EU’, say MEPs group
Measures voted on Monday will allow Viktor Orbán to rule by decree without time limits
Hungary’s emergency law that enables the prime minister, Viktor Orbán, to rule by decree without time limits is incompatible with being in the EU, the European parliament’s liberal group said on Tuesday.
Passing measures ostensibly to tackle coronavirus, the Hungarian parliament on Monday voted to give Orbán the power to rule by decree with no clear end-date. The law also introduces jail terms for spreading disinformation about the virus, raising fears it could be used to neuter critics of the government’s approach.
Continue reading...Hungary set to pass law that critics say will let Orbán rule by decree
Fears over lack of checks and balances in new law, which includes jail terms for spreading misinformation
Hungary is set to pass a new law on coronavirus that includes jail terms for spreading misinformation as critics warn that the nationalist prime minister Viktor Orbán could be given carte blanche to rule by decree, with no clear time limit.
Hungary’s parliament, in which Orbán’s Fidesz party has a two-thirds majority, looks set to pass the bill on Monday in spite of opposition from other political parties, who had demanded a time limit or sunset clause on the legislation.
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